Release: 8th May, 2009
Developer: Replay Games
Publisher: Southpeak Interactive
Genre: Stealth-Action
Rating: 15 (BBFC)
It’s not exactly a hard stretch to come up with 5 examples of a World War 2 game. Hell, it’s not even hard to come up with 15. This is mentioned in just about every WW2 game review (and deservedly so) so I will leave it at that. Velvet Assassin focuses it’s efforts on the backstage of WW2, founded in the career of real-life secret agent Violette Szabo – or ‘Violette Summers’ as she is glamorously renamed. A good representation of the historical accuracy you will find in this title is summarised perfectly in the westernization of her name, as Replay Games’ research efforts appear to stretch as far as finding a secret agent with a sufficiently pretty face and large behind.
Ignoring the gaps in historical accuracy, Velvet Assassin offers the surprisingly unique concept of World War 2 stealth, rarely attempted previously despite the popularity amongst developers of World War 2 games. Another surprising move is to place the player in the shoes of a British character. While it’s been done many times before, it’s nice to have a little deviation from the grizzled American hero albeit arguably a small one. What is also nice is the prospect of a WW2 heroine, but this is quickly negated as you soon realize she is little but a 3D bottom on a two-dimensional character. Violette Szabo had an interesting life, both during and before her service – for example: she fell deeply in love with a French officer whom she married in just over a month of meeting, and they had a child shortly before her husband died which inspired her to sign up to the MI6/CIA of the time. In the game, these emotional motives for her actions are abbreviated pretty much to “I’m a spy” and of course “I’m in a coma”.
While Violette Szabo’s life was a whirlwind of emotion, action and narrative coherence, only one of those can be said for Summers, but I’ll get into that later. As for the coherence, It’s hard to imagine Replay Games actually showing an active interest in the source material considering the implementation of the character in the game. Velvet Assassin starts much like Hitman: Blood Money, with the protagonist in an unconscious state, while memories of past adventures are relived. This method of structuring gives the game a sensible framework in which they can place varied mission types, although removes a sense of meaning to why you’re doing what you’re doing. Pre-mission cinematics narrated by Violette set the scene and establish the objective, but it doesn’t give you a reason to care outside of ‘Nazis = Bad’ which is disappointing and an issue shared with Blood Money also as a result of the narrative structure.
Finally deviating from the subject of narrative; I played Velvet Assassin on a PC a resolution of 1280 by 1024 with the graphics set to medium and low on individual aspects. My computer consists most importantly of a single core 64 bit processor running at 2.2 GHz, an nVidia 7800 512MB and 2GB of RAM. The CPU falls well below the minimum recommended which is further proof that minimum recommended specs are utter tosh, at least if you’ve got a half-decent graphics card. On the graphics front, the game looks surprisingly good considering the specification – and by looking at HD promotional videos and previews, I can generally say that Velvet Assassin is technically a visually pleasing game which can proudly stand next to the majority of what this generation has to offer. The color palette consists largely of browns and greys which is understandably not everyone’s cup of tea as it is indeed fashionable in the eyes of art-designers. In my opinion, however, this choice of colours perfectly compliments the grey themes of war, death and obedience to an unseen force which are all represented relatively to each character. This is communicated to the player through the contrasting views of Violette (“Strike from the shadows, kill without a emotion, thought.”), the average Nazi soldier (“I must do what I’m told for my country, though all I really want is to be back home.”) and the elite SS and Dirglewanger squads (“If this war weren’t on, I wouldn’t be able to get away with half the things I get to do out here.”) juxtaposed to create a questionable sense of war. The game overdoes it, however by forcing its own opinions down your throat – attempting to shock you at every turn with sights such as a family hung from a tree and dead children lying in the street which is mildly horrifying at first, but slowly loses impact throughout the course of the game where it becomes almost unbelievable at the final level. A suggestion of alternate choice of colour considering these dark concepts would be black and white, but we all know a certain Mr. Spielberg would be mentioned at least 20 times on Velvet Assassin’s Metacritic page as a result (and not regarding Boom Blox).
The gameplay feels like a crossover between Thief: Deadly Shadows and the Splinter Cell series. It’s main focus lies in learning enemy movement patterns, and moving in for the kill at just the right time, relying on shadows and long grass for obscurity while avoiding curiously positioned fragments of glass which make a loud noise as you step on them. Challenge lies in large rooms with multiple enemies and awkward lighting, making you think carefully about your next move all the time. You can adapt the environment to your advantage also, allowing slight alternatives to what may be the developers’ intended methods of solution, borrowed from a number of sources such as breakable fuseboxes (Hitman: Bloodmoney) and whistling (Splinter Cell series). While these keep the gameplay refreshing, they are held back somewhat by the games unavoidable linearity. Strict, clearly defined routes through levels give you a clear objective – but I can’t help feeling that the level design belongs more in the previous generation as the player has minimal say in how they go about completing the level objectives, and this also prevents another layer of challenge which could have been implemented in transitioning between environments, avoiding wider enemy patrols but instead, you know where all the enemies are and the only effective solution to difficulties is taking out all in your path.
The stealth gameplay is without a doubt the games strongest aspect and it is realised brilliantly by the developers, incorporating previously mentioned conventions we’re used to in the genre to great effect as well as adding some new ideas into the mix, such as removing the pin from a grenade on an enemy’s belt as he turns around to continue his patrol towards some of his allies with loud, but entertaining results. Another great feature is the Manhunt-esque execution system, allowing instant kills by sneaking up to the enemy from behind and clicking the left mouse button, rewarding you with one of a variety of brutal executions (examples; slashing the enemy in the balls before thrusting the blade into the enemy’s neck, furiously jamming a blade into a soldier’s right ear). These executions are randomised and vary depending on the position upon which you initiate the execution sequence and what weapons you have in your inventory.
While the knife will be your most common method of execution, you are also given a silenced pistol across the majority of levels which enables the player to rectify any botched attempts at stealth with a bullet through the skull. The game anticipates use of weaponry, and appears to be designed with many “accident-recifying” solutions scattered throughout the levels – ultimately offering more freedom in gameplay with firearms than the knife. Explosive barrels, barrels containing deadly chemicals and puddles of petrol which can be shot as the enemy approaches or walks across them. The choice of firearms isn’t always so quiet either – offering historically accurate pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and occasionally sniper rifles for the player to use when things get too heated. Unfortunately this is the games largest mistake. As bigger, louder firearms are added to your arsenal – the more opportunities arise in which you are forced to use them. This occurs at the end of almost every level, throwing you into an intense firefight that cannot be avoided through stealth. This is a big mistake on the developer’s behalf, as it doesn’t take long to realise that this game isn’t built for action. A fast-decreasing health counter and ineffective cover from flying ammunition aren’t helped by a slow Resident-Evil style aiming system which requires the player to withdraw their weapon first and then move around at a snails pace, attempting to pick off angry guards (who, judging by their accuracy should all be commended for marksman awards). The increasing focus on gunplay throughout the game is epitomized in the final level, in which stealth is ruled out completely as an option in yet another allusion to Hitman: Blood Money where the grand finale ranks undoubtedly amongst the hardest video-games have to offer – owing more to gameplay faults and chaotic design choices rather than strategic challenge.
In addition to the gunplay, Velvet Assassin attempts to mix up the experience with fetish-appeasing SS disguises – where you must try and stay as far away from Nazi guards lest they smell the distinguishable scent of fish, chips and bacon sarnies that every Brit apparently must boast as I cannot think of any other explanation for the instant gunfire you are greeted with as a consequence of getting too close to one of them. Further challenge is added in not being able to sneak, as the uniform comes with rather stylish, yet ridiculously inappropriate high heels. Velvet Assassin’s mediocre game length (6-8 hours) is partially improved upon through the thoughtful implementation of a harder difficulty level (try at your peril!) as well as collectibles, which reward the player with the opportunity to improve their character’s abilities – choosing from ‘Strength’ which improves the amount of damage you can take before dying, ‘Stealth’ which improves upon the speed which you can sneak (which reminds me: the speed you carry dead bodies at is a lot speedier and smoother than other games, making it less frustrating) and ‘Morphine’. Morphine is essentially Velvet Assassin’s ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. Enabling it allows you to freeze time – allowing you to take out one enemy who is perhaps part of a puzzle you are having trouble solving, or an enemy whose suspicion is about to root you out of your corner. Upgrading it improves the amount of morphine you can carry at a time, although despite all the choices I would have to recommend ‘Strength’ over any other considering the intensity of the game’s finale. The option to upgrade these is a nice addition to an already packed game full of ideas, but like many of the others it is not fully thought-out as you can only upgrade each only a little unless you have the persistence to seek out each and every one of the well hidden collectibles. Another satisfying inclusion into the mixing pot is the inclusion of optional side-quests, alongside each level’s primary objective. These are a nice addition but again, it needs improvement as there is little clue or indication as to how to complete these until you have already done so. This does, however provide a pleasant surprise as you discover you have completed one.
Velvet Assassin is overall a decent title with a lot of features on offer for the price tag. The stealth gameplay holds up against even big name games like Splinter Cell and Thief, while retaining a unique sense of it’s own identity with a number of original ideas. Unlike many amateur PC ports we’re so used to seeing nowadays, Velvet Assassin’s control scheme transitions perfectly to the PC – only faltering in it’s dodgy placement of checkpoints (scarce and always before about 5 tedious or very difficult challenges) and inability to quicksave your progress. It’s unfortunate that the better half of the gameplay experience is somewhat overshadowed by the forced shootouts, linear level design and various minor setbacks. Just as the immersion offered by the art-design, haunting background instrumentals (close in style to Hitman: Contracts) and realistic sound effects is fragmented by breaks in gameplay when entering some doors and climbing ladders, occasional dodgy voice acting (“Hurry” being pronounced “hooh-ray” at one point) and a poor subversion of great source material. For each of the great ideas found in Velvet Assassin, there is a fault of some form or another and it leads me to conclude that they should have stopped and thought about what could have been removed rather than what else could be added – hopefully allowing them to polish and make this game feel a lot more meaty and wholesome as well as think more deeply about how some of their ideas may be better executed.
Popularity: unranked [?]
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